Sometimes Simple, Sometimes Grand, Always Declicious
It’s no secret that my husband is a meat lover. When I cook a meal, the sides are merely a reliable method of filling up any open spaces that might just happen be left on the plate once the dead carcass has been skinned, prepped, cooked and dropped in front of him for consumption. So as you can imagine, when Masterbuilt contacted me and asked if I wanted to review one of their electronic meat smokers, he practically wrote the reply for me.
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I simply couldn’t let summer come to a close without taking one honest to goodness stab at dairy free ice cream. And I’m not talking about a stab that kind of sort of tastes like ice cream but still makes me long for the real thing. I’m talking about the “holy mother of Mary that’s the best dang ice cream I’ve had in a long time and I demand proof to the contrary that it’s dairy free” kind. That’s what I aimed for. No less would suffice. And honestly? I’m still pinching myself to make sure I’m not crazy, but dag gone it, I think I’ve done it. This one’s a winner. You know you’ve done something right when your child who can still eat dairy actually requests that you brew up another batch of the milk free version.
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Every year about this time I start to get the itch. I think you know the one. I glance around the kitchen at the bushels of tomatoes picked fresh from my garden, the peaches overflowing in baskets from our yearly “pick your own” adventures, and the berries galore taking up space in my freezer and fridge. Instantly my mind turns to canning. Salsa, jam, pickles, pie filling, you name it. When the urge hits, it grabs me with a vengeance.
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First up, you all are awesome. Thank you so much for the kind words, the valuable information sharing and the general feeling of support. If nothing else, it makes the journey a bit easier and a whole lot more interesting knowing you’re not the only one on board the train. We’ve hit week six of the change and it feels like the hill is starting to turn back down again. I’ve figured out the perfect pancake, tracked down a couple gluten free granola bars we all like in addition to making our own and, of course, baked up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Almond milk is my new friend and the boys are once again relishing in their daily morning time smoothie sans yogurt.
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Let me start by saying that, when I first heard of avocado ice cream, I was a bit skeptical about the whole idea. After all, in this house avocados are for guacamole and pretty much solely guacamole. Sure, the occasional slice may make it on a sandwich or get dropped into a salad, but the majority of the time it’s “green sauce”, as my seven year old Alex affectionately calls it, for this family.
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In this household, there are always a stash of bananas waiting to be eaten. We use them in smoothies, cut them up for a cereal or oatmeal topping and simply enjoy them straight off the vine. If one sails past the mark, we don’t sweat it because we know it’s destined for even better flavor baked fantasies. This, in my opinion, makes bananas one of the best fruits out there. Just try and come up with one better. They travel well, cost little, taste great when eaten as intended and get even better once they’re overripe. Every time an over aged yellow skinned fruit presents itself, we stash it in the freezer in anticipation of a future loaf/cake/muffin of fruit flavored goodness down the road.
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